The Blessings Of Exile (That Is, If You Survive It)

“Because everything has become so evident, you’ve stopped seeing anything. Exile gives you a chance to break free. All that heavy luggage of old ‘truths,’ which seemed so only because they were so familiar, is to be left behind. Exiles always travel light.”

That headline could apply to dozens of people, especially nowadays in this age of competitive, ostentatious collecting of contemporary and modern art. But I was referring to J. P. Morgan, who in his lifetime purchased ... read more

Drawing by Gerard BellaartThe corpse blinked. Dead but alive dreaming awake. Had the algorithm been misplaced? Was it “life-in-death” within the winding sheet or “death-in-life”? Signaling the dreamer, the corpse winked but could not speak ... read more

Clifford Curzon plays Brahms’ D Minor Capriccio, Op. 116/1, on TV in 1959: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) ... read more

“There can be only one permanent revolution—a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man. “How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels ... read more

I’ve recently starting working as an assistant professor and program director for a new MA in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship (MA AME) at The New School. If you don’t know it, The New School is ... read more

Duo Concertant, Hugo Niebeling’s 1973 film version of George Balanchine’s 1972 ballet. Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins, who created their roles for New York City Ballet, are the dancers, and Igor Stravinsky’s score is played ... read more

In today’s Wall Street Journal I review two important New York revivals, the Irish Rep’s The Home Place and the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Time and the Conways. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Brian Friel’s ... read more

“These current residents of Old Carrport are mostly drop-ins for whom the shingled Cape Cod is a third or fourth or possibly fifth home. They are people who don’t quite qualify for the ‘old’ money ... read more

“Sex” in a headline could once skew a reader’s attention, but I risk vanilla using it here. Grade-schoolers of all nations do porn homework online. That coy teen you meet at your niece’s bat ... read more

We often talk about an organization having a mission, as if the organization exists as some separate entity with its own individual will. But increasingly I’m wondering if that attribution hasn’t always been upside-down. Organizations ... read more

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more ... read more

Advocates for community engagement in the arts often get pushback from people who assume that concern for the interests of our communities necessitates a “lowering of standards.” What follows is my attempt to address ... read more